PRO FOOTBALL

PRO FOOTBALL;After a Rout, Rams Cannot Wait For Elvis to Leave Their Building

By TIMOTHY W. SMITH

Published: October 23, 1995

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 22—
There was one big quarterback question entering the game between San Francisco and St. Louis at Busch Stadium this afternoon. Was the 49ers' Elvis Grbac good enough to replace Steve Young?

There were more by the third quarter when the 49ers went up by 30-3. Such as: When would Cary Conklin, Grbac's backup, enter the game? When would Chris Miller, whose four interceptions had resulted in 28 San Francisco points, give way to backup Mark Rypien? And could Rypien do anything to help the Rams save face?

Miller came out in the third quarter with the Rams down by 37-3. Grbac came out in the third quarter after San Francisco went up by 44-3. And by the time Rypien threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jessie Hester to make it 44-10 with 2 minutes 29 seconds to play, saving face was the last thing on the minds of the Rams players.

In a game that sent a message all the way to Dallas, the 49ers (5-2) dominated the upstart Rams (5-2) in a 44-10 victory that put them in a three-way tie with St. Louis and Atlanta in the National Football Conference West Division.

The way the 49ers played today, it's just a matter of time before they claim the lead by themselves -- even without Young, who stood on the sideline wearing a white golf shirt, blue jeans, sneakers and headset, nursing a deeply bruised and sprained left (throwing) shoulder.

The Rams (5-2), playing before a record crowd of 59,915 in their last game at Busch Stadium before moving into the Trans World Dome, were confident coming into this game. During the week, Rams safety Toby Wright said that without Young the 49ers ought to be "sweating bullets" and "ought not to even show up." Sorry, Mr. Wright. You were wrong.

Grbac played like a king, completing 11 of 14 passes for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was not sacked and did not throw an interception.

"I knew if I could get the ball out of my hand and into the hands of the other guys, they could make the plays," Grbac said. "And that's what happened."

Niners safety Merton Hanks said: "I came into this fine city of St. Louis on Saturday and all I heard from the bellboys to the weatherman was how we were going to get our butts kicked. Hey, we're the world champs. We've got four rings. How can people think we're not going to show up? I hope people keep taking us for granted. That was a good Rams team. When you look at it we totally dismantled them."

Hanks was asked about the 49ers' Nov. 12 date with Dallas.

"Now, that's a big game," he said. "When we're playing the way we're capable of playing, there's no one in the league that can deal with us."

St. Louis Coach Rich Brooks can attest to that.

"To have them run one offensive play and have a 14-0 lead is not how we wanted to start this game," Brooks said. Grbac threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor on the 49ers' first play, following Dedrick Dodge's interception, and Ken Norton then scored on a 21-yard interception return, the first of two in the game for him.

"Chris Miller was off early and we threw some picks that were costly," Brooks said, but added, "They totally dominated the game in every phase and handed us our lunch."

It was an awe-inspiring display, reminiscent of the 49ers circa 1994 -- particularly on defense. The defense was so good that it overshadowed two touchdowns by Jerry Rice (on a 4-yard catch and a 20-yard reverse). San Francisco's defense had four interceptions and held the Rams to 2.6 yards per rushing attempt; St. Louis converted only 3 of 15 third downs. And when the Rams did get in the red zone, they were only 1 of 2 on scoring opportunities. Steve McLaughlin got a 25-yard field goal in the first quarter but Hanks partially blocked McLaughlin's 30-yard attempt in the second quarter.

The 49ers' defense was so good that even though Grbac had thrown just 14 passes, San Francisco was leading by 44-3 by the third quarter.

But the only statistic that counted was this one: The 49ers' defense was ranked No. 2 over all in the league entering the game. Perhaps Toby Wright and the rest of the football world overlooked the fact that San Francisco's defense had given up just six touchdowns in six games and had limited opponents to just two touchdowns inside the red zone.

"Our offense has been so good for so long, our defense will never get the respect that it deserves," said 49ers safety Tim McDonald. "All the focus this week went right over to the offense. People just forgot we existed."